-LRB- CNN -RRB- Britain 's Lewis Hamilton made the perfect start to his world title defense by winning the opening race of the F1 season in Australia Sunday to lead a Mercedes one-two in Melbourne .

Polesitter Hamilton controlled the race on the Albert Park street circuit to win from teammate Nico Rosberg of Germany .

Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel took the final podium position for his new team Ferrari , holding off Felipe Massa in the Willams .

It was the 34th career victory for two-time world champion Hamilton and underlined the continued dominance of Mercedes as he and Rosberg pulled well clear of their nearest challengers .

Hamilton , who was forced to retire early in last year 's Australian Grand Prix , was taking the checkered flag in Melbourne for the first time since 2008 , when he claimed his first world title for McLaren .

It had all gone completely to plan until coming face to face on the victory podium with movie legend Arnold Schwarzenegger , who was conducting the post-race interviews .

`` Hey man , WOW , '' said a surprised Hamilton .

`` It is an incredibly feeling to continue winning but also great to be up here with you . '' Then taking his courage in his hands , Hamilton cheekily told ` The Terminator ' `` I thought you were taller ! ''

After getting the thoughts of Rosberg and Vettel , who said it was a `` very big honor '' to gain his first points for Ferrari , Schwarzenegger turned his attention back to Hamilton .

The pair signed off by saying together : `` I 'll be back , '' the catchphrase from Schwarzenegger 's iconic 1984 film .

With Hamilton winning his seventh race from eight starts , his F1 rivals would probably rather he stayed away and Rosberg admitted `` he was driving to his max '' but could not match the pace of his teammate .

Only 11 cars finished the race from a depleted grid of 15 cars , with Valtteri Bottas unable to start for Williams due to a back injury .

Pastor Maldonado crashed out on the first lap as the safety car was deployed , while his teammate Romain Grosjean retired early in the 58-lap race to complete a miserable afternoon for Lotus .

Britain 's Jenson Button in an uncompetitive McLaren was the only driver to finish without a point in 11th place .

His regular teammate Fernando Alonso sat out the race after his nasty crash in pre-season testing in Barcelona , while stand-in Kevin Magnussen retired after the warm-up lap .

Kimi Raikkonen looked set to underline Ferrari 's improvement when running in fifth place , but had to retire the car , with TV replays indicating his left rear tire was not fitted properly after a pit stop .

It left the way clear for rookie Felipe Nasr of Brazil to claim an unexpected fifth place for Sauber , which went through the 2014 season without claiming a single point , and also took eighth spot with Marcus Ericsson .

Home hopes rested with Daniel Ricciardo , third in last year 's title race , but he looked off the pace in the Red Bull in sixth place .

Force India pair Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez finished seventh and 10th , with Carlos Sainz Jr. impressing on his F1 debut for Toro Rosso in ninth .

Dutch teenager Max Verstappen made F1 history by becoming the youngest driver to compete in an F1 race at 17 years and 166 days , but his hopes were dashed when forced to retire in his Toro Rosso on the 34th lap .

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Lewis Hamilton wins opening race of 2015 F1 season in Australia

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Mercedes 1-2 with Nico Rosberg in second place

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World champion Hamilton had started from pole position

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Sebastian Vettel claims final podium place for Ferrari